Willard Monroe Kiplinger (January 8, 1891 – August 6, 1967) was best known as the founder of

Kiplinger Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice which is a subsidiary of Future plc. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations ...

, a publishing company located in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Kiplinger was born in the

Bellefontaine, Ohio Bellefontaine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Ohio, Logan County, Ohio, United States, located 48 miles (77 km) northwest of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 13,370 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 Cens ...

, to parents Clarence E. and Cora Miller Kiplinger. He grew up on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. As a high school upperclassman he was editor of the school newspaper where one of the illustrators was Dudley Fisher. He attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1908 until 1912 and was a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity. He and Ray Evans recruited Fisher into the fraternity. While at OSU he was editor of the school newspaper, ''

The Lantern ''The Lantern'' is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000. Copies of the paper are free and avail ...

''. When he graduated he was one of the first two journalism graduates from the school. His first job after graduation in 1913 was with the ''

Ohio State Journal ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' was a daily morning newspaper in Columbus, Ohio published by the Scripps Howard company. It was formed in 1959 by the merger of ''The Columbus Citizen'' and ''The Ohio State Journal''. It shared printing facilit ...

''. On June 20, 1914, he married his first wife, Irene Austin of Toledo, in

Lucas County, Ohio Lucas County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As of the 2020 census, the population was 431,279 ...

. She introduced him to

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

and he was a member of the church for the rest of his life. Their first child, a daughter named Jane Austin, died shortly after birth in 1916. They had a son named Austin and a daughter named Jane Ann before divorcing. He married his second wife, Lillian "LaVerne" Colwell, in Harrisonburg, Virginia on May 18, 1936. They had a daughter named Bonnie. He moved to

in 1916 where he worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He and his family attended All Souls Unitarian Church, which was the same church

William Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

attended. He started the company

in 1920 as an "intelligence bureau" for out-of-town banks and businesses. He started ''The Kiplinger Letter'' in 1923 and in 1947 began publishing ''Kiplinger Magazine''. He also donated his time as a

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

to ''The Emerald of Sigma Pi'' magazine. In 1942 he published a book titled ''Washington Is Like That'' which focused on the inner organization of the federal government. In 1952 he played a large role in soliciting funds and local business support to help educational television station

WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (90.9 FM). The two outlets share stud ...

begin operations. Kiplinger's son

Austin H. Kiplinger Austin H. Kiplinger (19 September 1918 – 20 November 2015) was an American journalist and businessman. He was the son of W. M. Kiplinger and Irene Austin. His father was the founder of Kiplinger Washington Editors, publishers of ''The Kiplinge ...

succeeded him as head of the publishing company. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism is an award given by the

National Press Foundation The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit journalism training organization. It educates journalists on complex issues and trains them in reporting tools and techniques. It recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards. ...

in his honor. Laverne & Willard's daughter Bonnie had 2 children with her husband Eugene Watts, Kevin Watts in 1961, and Keith Watts 1963.

References

External links

Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism
Award
Background

Kiplinger Website "About Us" page

History and Background of the Kiplinger Program at Ohio State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiplinger, W. M. Ohio State University alumni 1891 births 1967 deaths Newsletter publishers (people)